


Through the Years

by thisisntreallymeimnotreallyhere



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Kid Fic, Supportive John
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-21
Updated: 2016-01-21
Packaged: 2018-05-15 07:14:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5776465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisisntreallymeimnotreallyhere/pseuds/thisisntreallymeimnotreallyhere
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on a prompt: Dean and Cas are in love the sweet and innocent way that only children can be.  Mary notices, thinks it’s adorable, and points it out to John.  John scoffs at first, but the more he pays attention to them he realizes that his wife is right.  He’s a little uncomfortable with it at first because it’s not what he had imagined for his son, but he loves Dean and wants him to be happy so he is supportive in the end.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Through the Years

**Second Grade**

Mary looked around the kitchen, pleased with her work. She had finally unpacked the last of the boxes that afternoon so now her new house felt like a home. The boys, thankfully had stayed out of her way while she finished her project. Sam was upstairs reading, and Dean and Cas were playing outside. Glancing at the clock, she realized that it was almost time for Cas to head home for dinner.

She walked out onto the back porch and peeked over the railing into the driveway, trying not to disturb the two best friends. Dean and Cas had been inseparable since they had met a few weeks ago. Thankfully, Dean and Sam had been able to stay in the same school after the Winchester’s recent move, but it meant that they needed to take a different bus. Apparently, Dean had been nervous to ride the bus for the first time so Cas had offered to let Dean sit with him. From that moment on, Dean wouldn’t stop talking about his new friend, Cas. Either Cas would spend the afternoon here, or Dean would spend the afternoon at Cas’ house. They spent so much time together that Mary started to think of Cas as “one of her boys.”

She smiled as she watched them draw designs on the driveway with chalk. She wasn’t sure what sort of game they were playing, but it seemed to involve space travel and dinosaurs. At the moment, Dean and Cas were arguing over the design of the spaceship.

“No, Cas! The house has to go here!” Dean said as he started to draw the outline in blue chalk.

“It’s too far away. It has to be connected to the spaceship,” Cas reasoned. Dean sighed in exasperation.

“I’m gonna connect it. But it’s gonna be a big house, Cas.”

“Where am I going to live?”

Dean sighed again. “With me, Cas. Duh!”

“Can we have a room full of ice cream?” Cas asked.

“Yeah! That’s a great idea!” Dean said. “Here, help me finish drawing it.”

“I’m going to put all of your favorite ice cream in it!” Cas promised, as he grabbed the yellow chalk and started drawing.

Mary stood there for a few minutes and watched as Dean and Cas drew their house together. Even though they had known each other for such a short amount of time, it made sense to her that they would grow up and stay together. Even now, she couldn’t imagine Dean without also imagining Cas. As she watched them she realized that they were as in love as seven year olds could be.

The moment didn’t last long, though. Mary could hear the sound of John’s car driving down the street. That was her queue to walk down the steps and get the boy’s attention.

“Time’s up, Dean. Dad’s home -- we have to walk Cas home now.”

“Oh, man!” Dean complained as he watched John pull the Impala into the driveway. “Come on, Cas,” he grumbled.

Dean held Cas’ hand all way back to Cas’ house, and he talked about Cas all the way back to the Winchester’s house. When Mary tucked him into bed that night he asked, “Can Cas come over again tomorrow?”

Later that night, Mary and John were curled up on the couch watching TV. She was only half paying attention to the show since she was still thinking about the bond between Dean and Cas that she had noticed earlier.

“You know,” Mary said, getting her husband’s attention. “I think Dean and Cas are in love.”

With her head on her husband’s chest, she felt rather than heard him chuckle.

“Don’t be silly,” he told her. “They’re boys.”

“I know they’re young, but you should see them when they play together,” she said.

“No, I mean, they’re _boys_ ,” John corrected. “They’re not _in love_.”

For a moment, Mary was too shocked to speak. She pushed herself up so that she could look John in the eye.

“John Winchester!” she scolded. “Don’t you dare try to put any expectation on my sons!”

“Mary, that’s not…”

But she was too mad to let him finish.

“No! I mean it! If you pay attention, you’ll notice it too. And don’t try to project your expectations onto Dean. Just let him grow up and figure it out on his own, OK?”

“Mary, I think you’re reading too much into it. But I promise, OK? I won’t ‘project my expecations’ onto Dean.”

It ruffled her feathers when he rolled his eyes and used air quotes, but for now it was the best she was going to get. She laid back down and didn’t say another word while they finish watching the show.

**Seventh Grade**

Mary was putting the finishing touches on the cupcakes for the bake sale when John walked into the kitchen. It was a sunny Saturday afternoon and he had been spending some time working out in the garage. Normally, Dean would have been helping his father, but he was spending the afternoon with Cas.

“You know, Dean’s been spending a lot of time out of the house,” John said, as if he could read her mind.

“Yup, he’s with Cas almost every chance he can get,” Mary said with a smirk.

“Don’t start, Mary,” John grumbled. By now, this was a familiar argument. Mary would point out how much time Dean and Cas spent together, and John would gripe and complain that she was reading too much into it.

“Don’t start what?” Mary asked. “He would rather spend time with Cas than work on the Impala with you. Doesn’t that say something?”

John harrumphed in reply. He pulled out a beer from the fridge, popped it open, and worried the cap between his fingers. Mary waited patiently while he sorted out his thoughts. Finally, John broke the silence.

“Why do you think he’s been in such a weird mood lately?”

“You mean Dean?” she asked, looking up from her cupcakes.

“Yeah, he hasn’t been himself.”

Mary put down the cupcake she was working on and gave her husband her full attention.

“Honestly?”

John nodded in reply.

“Cas switched schools,” she explained. “They don’t get to see each other during the day anymore, so the only time they get to spend together is a few hours in the afternoon.”

For a moment, Mary was worried that he was going to argue with her again. Instead, he nodded thoughtfully and took a swig of beer. It was another long moment before he spoke again.

“OK,” he said. “I’m not saying you’re right. But Dean does spend a lot of time with Cas.”

The last thing Mary wanted to do was rub it in so she stayed as calm as possible on the outside while she mentally jumped for joy. Still, she couldn’t help but push the conversation a little further.

“He’s happy when he spends time with Cas and miserable when they’re apart.”

“They’re best friends,” John reasoned.

“Or…” Mary prompted.

“Or what? Cas makes him happy,” John conceded. “That’s all that matters to me.”

Mary smiled and nodded in approval. “Finally, we agree! As long as Dean’s happy, who cares who he loves?”

“I didn’t say love,” John said.

“You didn’t have to,” Mary said with a wink.

“We’ll see,” he winked back. And with that, he walked back to the garage.

**Senior Year**

It was one of the first warm evenings of spring so Mary decided to serve dinner outside. Some fresh air and sunshine would do everyone some good, especially after the long winter that they had. Out of habit she cooked enough food for five people, one for every member of her family plus Cas. She knew Cas would be joining them without even having to ask. He had been over for dinner every night for the past month.

“I’m telling you, they’re dating,” she whispered to John as he pulled the silverware out of the drawer.

“And I am telling you that they aren’t going to start dating until they get to college.”

Long gone were the days when they argued over whether or not Dean and Cas were in love. By now, it was a foregone conclusion. When it came to this subject, what they argued about most was when Dean and Cas would finally admit that they were in a relationship.

“I’m telling you, I know my son, and he’s dating Cas,” Mary insisted.

“You don’t think I know my son?” John asked in mock hurt.

“I think you know more about Sam than Dean, that’s what.” She poked him playfully with a wooden spoon.

The conversation was cut short when Dean, Cas, and Sam walked into the kitchen.

“Go set the table, boys,” John instructed. “We’ll be out in a second.”

Before long, they were all sitting around the table, chatting amongst themselves, several conversations being carried on at once.

“I don’t know if we’ll be able to visit my parent’s next weekend,” Mary said to John.

“What a pity,” John said, obviously relieved.

“Mom, can I join the soccer team this summer?” Sam asked.

“I thought you liked football,” John asked.

“Dean, pass the mashed potatoes,” Mary asked.

“Yeah,” Sam said. “But I thought soccer would be a good idea to put on my college applications.”

“Will you listen to this kid?” John teasingly asked Mary.

“It might be a good idea,” she conceded. “Dean, the mashed potatoes?”

“You sure you don’t want to add another volunteer project instead?”

Mary sighed as she watched Dean push his food around his plate. He hadn’t eaten a bite, hadn’t participated in the conversation, and still hadn’t noticed that his mother was trying to get his attention. She would have assumed that something was wrong, but But Cas was sitting next to him so how bad could it be?

“Sam, can you pass the mashed potatoes?” she asked, leaving Dean to his thoughts for now.

Sam continued to talk to John while he passed the bowl to Mary. The movement must have caught Dean’s attention because all of a sudden he sat up straight and cleared his throat, getting everyone’s attention.

“I’m dating Cas!” he blurted out suddenly and loudly.

Everyone froze. Slowly, very slowly, everyone turned their attention to Dean. Dean must have realized that everyone was waiting for him to say something more.

“I’m dating Cas,” he repeated at a more normal volume. “And… and we’re going to prom together.” At this confession his face turned bright red and he slunk down in his seat, peaking at Cas out of the corner of his eye. Mary took the opportunity to glance at Cas too. There was a small smile on his face as he watched Dean, something fond, and familiar, and proud.

“OK,” Mary said, breaking the silence that had followed Dean’s declaration. She began scooping the mashed potatoes as if nothing had happened.

“You’ll need a new suit, so I’ll take you to the mall on Saturday,” she said casually, passing the bowl back to Sam. She almost laughed when she saw that Dean was staring at her with his mouth hanging open.

“Cas, what about you? Do you need formal wear?” Cas, thankfully, was processing everything much faster than Dean. He shook his head in mute reply.

“So can I join soccer or not?” Sam jumped in.

“Are you sure you can do soccer and work at the animal shelter?” John asked.

“I… we’re… I mean, I’m…” Dean stuttered.

“We know,” Mary said. If Dean had been shocked before, Mary could tell that he was downright flabbergasted now. “I mean, we didn’t know you were officially dating,” she explained. “But we guessed.” She couldn’t help smirking at John.

“You two couldn’t have waited until after graduation?” he huffed. “I just lost a bet.”

“You… what?!” Dean looked like he might pass out from shock.

“You might as well take the Impala to prom,” John offered. “No use renting an expensive limo if you don’t have to.”

Dean blinked at him in surprise. “I…”

“Are you ever going to talk in complete sentences again?” Sam asked.

“Soon,” Cas answered. It was the first thing he had said since Mary had talked to him. “He just lost a bet, is all,” Cas explained, winking at Mary.

“It’s the stubborn Winchester gene,” Mary explained with a smile.

Dean and John had several objections. Eventually, the conversation moved on, and everything got back to normal just as Mary always knew it would.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this quickly because I knew that tonight's episode (11x10) was going to hurt my heart. Hopefully this fluff helped you like it helped me! :)
> 
> Now ruining people's lives with fluff and smut. [X](http://thisisntreallymeimnotreallyhere.tumblr.com/)


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